East of la Cienega

DANIEL ARNOLD’S 24-HOUR L.A. CLIQUE

For those of you who don’t know Daniel Arnold, you should. The former writer-turned-photographer made a career change in 2013 (April Fools’ Day to be exact) when his ability to capture coherent, real-life moments on an iPhone (!) garnered enough Instagram likes for him to make the switch. While Arnold might call some of his photos “pure luck,” don’t let his modesty fool you… The man is literally on his feet all day (in cowboy boots nonetheless), hunting for strangers’ most honest moments.

Lucky for us, Arnold headed to Los Angeles for a couple gigs this February and decided to stay the month. Escaping the harsh New York winter is ideal for anyone, but what Arnold found himself truly indulging in was unfamiliarity and the feelings of discomfort that it creates. “I almost prefer to be uncomfortable,” says Arnold. “That experience of being divorced from identity in a weird clean slate where you can be a fluid version of yourself.”

So how does the unfamiliar translate into a fashion editorial? And even more pressing, how does someone like Arnold (who thrives on capturing real-life moments) photograph a somewhat controlled environment? As he explains: “I’m not a chin-down kind of guy.”

Arnold directs by giving emotional context, rather than requesting a pose. Instead, he’ll describe a moment or occurrence in a day in hopes of recreating the odd social interactions and unknown territories he had been living all month long.

“You find an acquaintance at a Walgreens and go around with them for lack of plans, and it sorta loosens your identity,” Arnold explains. “By the end of a day-without-consequences, you're a new, braver thing and the world looks a little tweaked and your relationship with this new crew exists only in a cool, made-up twilight place. But you're alive again.”

This was the story running through the photographer's head for our editorial, East of La Cienega. For one day, three new friends (and the crew) became a clique. They laughed, ran across suburban lawns, peeped inside of BDSM shops, explored sewage tunnels, and may or may not considered getting tongue piercings á la Thirteen. Draped in some of spring’s most rebellious pieces— Acne Studios barely-there denim shirt, Angel Chen’s open lace-up pleather trousers, and a throwback Anna Sui crop top to name a few—the friends evoke the feeling of what it truly means to be uninhibited, young, and alive.

So, did Arnold capture in his signature candidness the liberated and emboldened actions that arise from new people and places? We think so, but why don’t you decide…